It is estimated that around six million people in the UK download music illegally, and the proposal it part of Government plans to attempt to crack down on the behaviour.

Under the proposal, legislature could be brought in by April 2009 which would see ISPs under pressure to take steps to stop illegal downloading, reports BBC News.

John Kennedy of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said: “ISPs are in a unique position to make a difference and in doing so to reverse a culture of creation-without-reward that has proved so damaging to the whole music community over the last few years.”

However, a spokesperson for the ISPs Association said that tailoring appropriate legislation would be extremely difficult. “Any scheme has got to be legal, workable and economically sustainable”, he explained.

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